Equinox
File:Equinoxposter.jpg
Directed by	Dennis Muren Jack Woods
Produced by	Jack H. Harris Dennis Muren
Written by	Mark Thomas McGee Jack Woods
Starring	Edward Connell Barbara Hewitt Frank Bonner Robin Christopher
Music by	John Caper, Jr.
Cinematography	Mike Hoover
Editing by	John Joyce
Distributed by	Tonylyn Productions
Release date(s)	October 1970
Running time	80 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Equinox is a 1970 American horror film. Originally made in 1967 under the title The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural it was directed by Dennis Muren, and stars Edward Connell as Dave, Barbara Hewitt as Susan Turner, Frank Bonner as Jim Hudson and award-winning science fiction/horror writer Fritz Leiber as geologist Dr Arthur Waterman. Special effect were provided by Jim Danforth who later worked on Flesh Gordon, in which he animated a giant monster similar to the ones in Equinox.

Plot[link]

The plot revolves around four young friends who head into the woods to look for the lost scientist Dr. Arthur Watermann. The friends picnic and also glimpse a mysterious castle in the woods, as well as finding that Dr Watermann's cabin seems to have been destroyed. A forest ranger watches over the teenagers, who in reality is Asmodeus. When the group stumble upon an ancient book filled with magical lore and symbols - it is presented to them by a cackling old man who they encounter in a cave - Asmodeus sends a variety of monsters (primarily a giant ape-like creature with cloven hoofs, and a giant green-skinned fur-clad creature) to retrieve the book from them at all costs. The ape-like creature kills the old cave-dwelling man. The castle seems to have disappeared, however the friends discover this is due to a force-field or cloak of invisibility; at times in the story they venture to pass this barrier of invisibility.

After killing Jim, Asmodeus reveals his true form: that of a winged red demon. Asmodeus proceeds to kill Jim's girlfriend and then attacks Dave and Susan. The two run away to a cemetery and destroy the demon with a cross, and his death leads to the cemetery exploding, killing Susan in the process. Although Dave is the only survivor, he sees a shadowy giant who announces to him he will be dead in one year and one day, causing Dave to go crazy after that. One year and one day later an evil-faced Susan arrives at the hospital to visit him, and the film ends on this ominous note.

Production[link]

While studying business at Pasadena City College, Dennis Muren spent $6500 to make Equinox, which at that time was a short science fiction film. Tonylyn Productions, a small film company, liked the film enough to distribute it. Tonylyn hired film editor Jack Woods to direct additional footage in order to make Equinox into a feature-length movie. When the feature-length Equinox was released in October 1970, Muren was credited as a producer in spite of having directed much of the film and creating the special effects himself. The movie made enough money for Muren to recoup his $6500 investment.

The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural was picked up for distribution by producer Jack H. Harris, who shot new footage for the film with Jack Woods and released it in 1970 as Equinox.

The film includes a cameo from Fritz Leiber as Dr. Watermann, who was signed via the auspices of Forrest J. Ackerman, whose voice is heard on a tape recorder during the hospital scenes in the movie. Leiber has no spoken lines in the film, only four scenes: one in which he is seen driving; a scene in which he grabs the book from the young people and runs away with it through the woods, then dying and his body mysteriously disappearing; a flashback in which we see him reading through the book; and a flashback in which we see him descending the stairs of his forest hideaway while a tentacled creature tears it apart.

Legacy[link]

Due to the similarities in their plots, Equinox is believed to have inspired Evil Dead, yet this has not been confirmed. It was seen by members of the crew of Evil Dead before production:

"I had seen Equinox at least twice in drive-ins before making Evil Dead. I don't recall having discussed it with [Evil Dead director] Sam Raimi, but the similarities are remarkable. I think they come from the low-budget nature of both films. That is, a few characters, an isolated, inexpensive location, and ambitious special effects. All in all, Equinox did inspire me to continue my goal of making movies. 'If they can do it...'" —Tom Sullivan, special effects and make-up artist for the Evil Dead movies, as quoted from the booklet included with the Criterion DVD set, "Backyard Monsters: Equinox and the Triumph of Love" by Brock Deshane.

DVD release[link]

Equinox was released on DVD in June 2006 as release 338 in The Criterion Collection. It includes both the theatrical version and Muren's original production, the first time the latter has been released.

External links[link]

• Equinox at The Criterion Collection
  • Essay: Dramatic Principles in Stop-Motion: A Discussion of Animation in the Fantasy Film by David W. Allen
  • Essay: Backyard Monsters: Equinox and the Triumph of Love by Brock DeShane
• Equinox at AllRovi
• Equinox at the Internet Movie Database
• Equinox at Rotten Tomatoes
• Equinox at the TCM Movie Database